Kotaku
Animal Crossing Has October Direct Show, Brewster Confirmed
Nintendo announced at its September 23 Direct that Animal Crossing: New Horizons will get an update in November and an Animal Crossing Direct in October.
KotakuKotakuNier's Yoko Taro Is Making A Card-Based RPG For The Nintendo Switch
Square Enix’s latest RPG is called Voice Of Cards: The Isle Of Dragon Roars, and is coming out on the Nintendo Switch next month.
KotakuSplatoon 3 Details Revealed at Nintendo Direct
Nintendo revealed more details about Splatoon 3 at today’s Nintendo Direct, straight from a “squid researcher.”
KotakuDiablo 2 Dev Explains Why The Loot System Wasn’t Updated At Launch
Loot. Some live by it. Others die by it. It makes the world go round, or at least the worlds of dungeon crawlers like Diablo 2: Resurrected. So why won’t the remaster have a modern loot system? Short answer: it’s more complicated than it sounds.
KotakuThe Best Video Games Of 2021 So Far
Let’s get this out of the way: Given all the ~everything~, simply releasing a game in 2021 is nothing short of a miracle. Every single one deserves a round of applause. But some, let’s face it, are better than others. As summer wraps, we thought it’d be fun to shine a light on the games that have excited us, moved us,…
KotakuGame Devs Of Color Expo Is Full Of Great Free Steam Demos, Melanin
The Game Devs of Color Expo, an event showcasing the diverse talent in games while providing a platform for creators of color, is officially underway. The 6th annual festival runs from September 23-27 and gives way to a host of happenings, from panels and talks to demos and trailers. There’s four days’ worth of stuff,…
KotakuDeath Stranding Director's Cut's Save Transfer System Is Kojima At His Best
While the average game director would have players simply port their saves from the PlayStation 4 to the PlayStation 5 via some unobtrusive menu, Hideo Kojima is built different. No, players who want to play Death Stranding Director’s Cut on PS5 for high framerates and fast load times will have to lace up their boots…
KotakuLumberpunk Beaver City Building Game Becomes Steam Top Seller
Timberborn is a city builder simulation game with an unusual twist: You’re building a settlement for beavers.
KotakuNintendo Accidentally Leaks Next Kirby Game, Coming Spring 2022
According to a listing we can only assume was accidentally pushed live, the next Kirby game is coming to Switch in spring 2022.
KotakuBefore You Start: Tips For Playing Deathloop
Arkane Studio’s latest game is its biggest yet, with esoteric puzzles, cutthroat combat, and an entire loot system all wrapped around a repeating time loop. If Deathloop seems overwhelming at first, that’s because it is.
KotakuKena: Bridge of Spirits: The Kotaku Review
Kena: Bridge of Spirits is what I’d call a “You Should Give Us Money” project.
KotakuEvery Big Game Coming Out In Fall 2021
The leaves are changing color, the wind is getting chilly, and all your favorite beverages are required by law to be flavored with pumpkin. Goodbye, hot and gross summer, and hello fall. And while this fall might not be as stacked as previous autumns, with plenty of games delayed into 2022, it’s still packed with some…
KotakuRare But Limited PS5, Xbox Best Buy Restock Sees Excruciatingly Long Lines IRL
Since the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S went on sale last fall, Best Buy hasn’t sold next-gen consoles at its brick-and-mortar locations, citing safety concerns around covid-19. That changed on Wednesday, when the big box retailer said it would sell a limited supply at stores across the country today. Predictably,…
KotakuYou're Not The Only Pokémon Unite Player Unable To Nab Festival Pikachu Right Now
It’s been a big week for Pokémon Unite. The fast-paced MOBA not only got an update that makes its notorious pay to win mechanics obsolete, but TiMi Studio Group also released the game on mobile. The developers encouraged people to preregister and download the mobile version by promising goodies that would become…
KotakuJapanese Esports Team Is Filled With Senior Citizens
Meet the Matagi Snipers. Based in Akita, the eight-person team is Japan’s first senior esports professional team, complete with a sponsor and everything.
The team was established as a way to show the health benefits of esports for older adults, as well as to impress the grandkids. NHK reports that twenty-one people…
KotakuThe Japanese Slang Everyone Is Talking About Is "Oya-Gacha"
In Japan, gacha machines are those ubiquitous capsule vending machines that dispense random prizes. The concept hasn’t only evolved into video games, but also into Japanese slang oya-gacha. What parents you get, like random items, are really the luck of the draw.
Oya-gacha, or “parent gacha,” is currently a big…
KotakuNBA 2K22: The Kotaku Review
I can’t do it anymore. This is the year that NBA 2K has turned me into the Joker.
KotakuWe're Just Never Getting Another Titanfall, Are We
Look, Apex Legends is a fine shooter, but Titanfall 2 was one of the greatest first-person games of all time, so you can understand why folks just will not shut up about wanting another entry in the series.
KotakuPokémon Unite Sleep Nerf Could Devastate Snorlax, Wigglytuff Players
While fresh duds and some great quality-of-life changes are definitely exciting, today’s Pokémon Unite update also included a huge list of gameplay adjustments. As usual, some Pokémon were helped and some were hindered, but it’s hard to argue that anyone was more affected than Snorlax and Wigglytuff. Both saw a…
KotakuAnimal Crossing's Ankha Porn Video Becomes Internet Sensation
The _Animal Crossing_character Ankha is currently a popular meme trending on TikTok, and (perhaps not so) surprisingly, it’s because of a fan-made animated porn clip of her.
KotakuMove Aside, Met Gala: Destiny 2 Is Getting A 'Digital Fashion Magazine'
Bungie has announced its relentlessly popular multiplayer shooter _Destiny 2_is getting something new. No, not another seasonal event, or a balance patch to screw up your favorite gun, but something far more important.The looter-shooter is getting a digital fashion magazine called Threads of Light, in which players…
KotakuDeathloop: The Kotaku Review
Video games are inescapably intertwined with iteration and do-overs. It’s written into the technology that builds them, the development practices that craft them, and often the very rules governing how they work: win-lose, trial and error. Some games have tried to mask this artifice in the service of more naturalistic…
KotakuThe Whiteness of Skater XL’s Mods Is A Major Bummer
Skater XL, the skateboarding simulator developed by Easy Day Studios, is one of two more recent genre entries that attempts to capture the zeitgeist of EA’s Skate. The game plops you in a myriad of selectable maps, each replete with various obstacles (such as benches and rails) to trick over, all while skating as…
KotakuEpic Confirms Massive L: Fortnite Not Returning To Apple Any Time Soon
Today, Tim Sweeney confirmed on Twitter just how massive of an “L” Epic took in its recent trial against Apple. Apple has effectively “blacklisted” Fortnite from all Apple products until the legal clash between the two massive corporations reaches its conclusion, which could take as long as five years. (It’s even…
KotakuWhy The FGC Won’t Stop Talking About Melty Blood: Type Lumina
Fighting game YouTubers (like JMSCrofts, Jiyuna, and Rooflemonger) are talking a lot about Melty Blood: Type Lumina. This is not a complaint. As someone very new to fighting games it has been great to watch people absolutely lose their minds over an upcoming release (while still expressing concerns), and for them to…
KotakuFinal Fantasy XIV Players Mourn Voice Actor’s Death With In-Game Vigils
If you’ve visited Final Fantasy XIV city-state Ishgard recently, you might have noticed a throng of players surrounding the home of Ishgardian noble Count Edmont de Fortemps. Over the last several days, mourners have turned Fortemps Manor into a makeshift vigil for voice actor Stephen Critchlow, who sadly passed away…
KotakuPokémon Unite Just Massively Leveled The Playing Field Against 'Pay To Win'
Since release, it’s been difficult to talk about the merits of pocket monster MOBA Pokémon Unite. The fun factor was there, though largely obscured by TiMi Studio Group’s monetization practices, which allow you to boost items with real-world money. But with Wednesday’s big new patch, Pokémon Unite is now way more…
KotakuRenaissance Faire: The Kotaku Review
Life doesn’t often let you know when your brain will flip. If you ever do receive such a heads-up, you’d be wise to heed it. I learned so while playing Renaissance Faire, a massively multiplayer real-world role-playing game that is only nominally about the Renaissance.
KotakuGTAV’s Enhanced 2022 Release Should Leave The 2013 Transphobia Behind
Years ago, I saw a video on YouTube—since removed, it seems, though a few like it still remain—of a _GTAV_player deliberately brutalizing some of the game’s trans sex workers for his own amusement. In the comments, one viewer voiced these chilling words of encouragement: “You’re doing God’s work.”
KotakuPlaying Genshin Impact's Last Update As Its Villain Was Eye-Opening
I’ve been building up my Raiden Shogun character so that I could use her to clear Genshin Impact’s latest chapter. She’s the main antagonist of the game’s Inazuma region, so I thought it would be interesting to attack and dethrone god using god herself.